Propelling means for boats



A. R. BAUER.

PROPELLING MEANS FOR BOATS.

l APPLICAUON FILED JUNE 2. 1919.

Patented Deo. 21, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

@wwwa/Joao A Maga @Mm/nag A. R. BAUER.

PRUPELLING MEANS FOR BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 19l9.

1,363,078. y Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A.-R. BAUER.

PROPELLING MEANS FOR BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1919.

1 3 6 3,078 Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WMM/won @o A maww- UNITED STATES ASHER R. BAUER, 0F ALLENTOWN,PENNSYLVANIA.

PROPELLING- MEANS BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Intent-ed Dec. 2i, 1926.

Application filed June 2, 1919. Serial No. 301,274.A

To all whom fi't may concern.'

Be it known that I, Asi-inn R. BAUER, a citizen of the United States7residing at Allentown, in the county of Lehigh and State' oiPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in PropellingMeans for Boats, of which the following is a specification. v

This invention relates to electric propulsion of canal boats and theprincipal object of the invention relates to means for connecting themotor on the boat with the contact means which is carried by a tracklocated along the canal and which acts as conductor.

The invention also relates to the details of construction of the saidcontact means and to the means for connecting the flexible connectionfrom the boat to the above mentioned means with said boat.

The invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be -had to theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1is a side elevation partly in section showing the complete invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the boat;

Fig. 3 is a cross section through the contact carriage;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of said carriage;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the cable-supporting pole and itsswivel;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the winch and the means for holding the sameagainst movement;

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail showing one of the supporting uprights forthe pole and the manner of mounting it on the deck of the boat.

In these views 1 indicates the boat which is provided with a propeller 2and a motor 3 for driving the same. The cable t for carrying the circuitwires passes through an opening in the deck and over a winch 5 which ismounted on the deck. 'Ihe cable is secured to the said winch so that itmay be wound thereon or unwound therefrom, as desired. A crank 6 of thewinch may be held against movement by the latch member i 7. From thewinch the cable passes through a hollow pole 8 and this pole has itslower end pivoted in a U-shaped bracket 9 which is swiveled to V'thedeck by the bolt l0. rihe upper end of the pole carries a pulley 11 withwhich the cable engages to prevent friction between the cable and saidpole. A track 12 is erected along the tow path or the side or the canaland this track consists of the upright posts 13 andthe upper and lowerrails la carried by said post. These rails also actas conductors for thecurrent. A carriage or contact member 14 is arranged to travel along thetrack. Said carriage consists of an insulated block 15 having curvedrecesses 16 in its corners in which are located the grooved wheels 17.The axles oi' these wheels are carried by the longitudinally-eatendingmetal ystrips 18l which are arranged in pairs at the upper and loweredges of the block and are suitably secured thereto. As will be seen,the upper pair of wheels engages the upper rail while the lower pairengages the lower rail.E

Ears 19 project outwardly from the strips on one side of the carriageand these ears are provided with the holes 20 which are adapted to beengaged by the pins 21. 'Ihese pins are each provided with an insulatedlhandle 22 and each pin is connected with one or" the circuit wiresleading to the boat. A spring 23 is secured to the strips carrying theears and said springs are adapted to engage with the pins to hold saidpins in the holes 20. lThe end of the cable l is secured to a hook 24which is adapted to engage an eye bolt 25, one of which is located ateach end of the carriage. The circuit wires lead from the end of thecable to the pins. By this means the hook 24 may be engaged with eitherof the eye bolts without interfering with the connection of the wireswith the pins or necessitating the removal of the pins in making thechange from one eye bolt to the other. Also when the boat is inoperation and the carriage is being pulled along by the cable, thestrain will be placed entirely upon the cable and not on the wires.

I provide means for supporting the post when the boat is in operationand such means consists of an upright 26, the upper end of which isforked to receive the post and its lower end is provided with a pin 27which engages with any one ofi a number of sockets 28 which are arrangedaround the edges of the deck so that the upright may be placed in anydesired position to prop- Y erly support the post.

It will thus be seen that the current will pass from one rail throughthe rollers and the strips of the carriage to one pin along one Wire tothe motor and return through the otherwire, the second pin and the otherstrips and rollers to the other rail. As the boat travels along, thecarriage Will be pulled along the track by the cable and the distanceapart of the boat and carriage may be adjusted by means of the Winchtaking up the slack in the cable or letting it out.

I may provideV a track on each side of the canal for boats going inopposite directions, or, ir desired, a single track may be used and whenone boat meets another they may exchange carriages by removing the pinsand hook from one carriage and placing them on the other, and proceed indifferent directions.

What I claim is trolley system for canal boats comprising a pair ofconductor members, a distributer frame mounted on said members andconsisting of a block of insulated material, metal strips connected withsaid block, wheels carried by said strips and engaging the conductingmember, brackets secured to the strips, pins removably engaging saidbrackets, means for electrically connecting the pins With the actuatingmeans of the boat and means for towing the block by the boat.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ASHER R. BAUER.

